My internship placement this summer
is with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in the Office of
Diversity and Inclusion. Although the work I do relates specifically to people
with disabilities, I enjoy being part of an office that works more broadly to
ensure that the federal government is hiring a diverse group of employees and
that it is being inclusive towards all employees.
I am also glad to be part of the
Diversity and Inclusion Office because the world needs to recognize that
disability is another form of diversity and that having people with
disabilities in the workforce adds new and important voices and perspectives. Being
part of this office also reminds me that those of us in the disability community
need to look beyond disability and see the similarities between our struggles and
those of other minorities. We need to form greater ties with others who face
discrimination and oppression. We need to come together to share strategies and solutions.
Rather than different minority groups working separately to be equal to the
dominant groups in society, we need to work together to create a society that
is inclusive of all individuals. We need to recognize the intersectionality of
disability with other groups and form coalitions with groups that fight
for rights and access. Of all minority communities, we are perhaps most responsible for bringing these groups together, since people with disabilities are of all races, nationalities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and cultures.
Our community needs to reach out more to people with
disabilities who are also part of other oppressed groups and recognize the unique
challenges they may face. I had the privilege this past week of meeting Daphne Kwok, the Executive Director of Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities
of California. She talked about the greater stigma and cultural
misunderstandings faced by AAPIs with disabilities within their own communities.
It is important for us to partner with groups like this and empower such
communities through education and community building. There
is much more we can do to reach out and form true and important alliances
between the communities that have been denied civil rights and equal access for
generations.
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